The Ruby Sun
by MushroomWings
Summary: The group travels to Credd Rock, hoping all can go as planned, but something happens when they arrive that they aren't prepared for.
1. Proulog: The Alliance

_**Crena held a very special place in the Four Islands' history: it saw the beginnings of an alliance between them all known simply as... well... the Alliance.**_

 _ **The Alliance's main base was on Crena, now known as Credd Rock. The group, whose leaders consisted of those from its containing islands, was made to help keep peace. It even seemed to benefit Reffira for a time.**_

 _ **One day, a foul wind swept through, plaguing the inhabitants with a bad sickness. Even those who rarely ever got sick had caught it, and those in poor health surely met their fate at its hands. Many perished in its relentless course, and the illness shook the main foundation of the Alliance to its core.**_


	2. Chapter 1: Concern

Seeing Credd after so long made Dixie breathless.

Credd had been the island she was born on, and she had not been there since not long before her and Tiny's father passed away. Maybe if they got the island regent's support with enough time, she could go visit her mother, who still lived on the island...

"Dixie?"

Dixie jumped at the voice. She turned to find Diddy behind her.

"Hey, Dids," she murmured.

"Are you OK?" Diddy asked.

"Yeah, it's just..." Dixie looked down. "...I didn't realize until now how much I missed Credd Rock."

"You haven't been there for some time, huh?"

"Not since moving to Kongo Bongo, no."

Dixie sighed and leaned against the ferry's railing. Diddy watched silently, smiling warmly before joining her. He gently nudged her, his smile turning into a grin.

"If we have some down time after convincing the regent, would you mind showing me around some of the island?" he asked. Dixie looked up at him.

"Sure," she smiled back. "I would love to."

XxXxXxXxX

"Do you think Dixie's going to be OK?" Cranky asked, frowning. DK looked at the older male, shocked.

"Hopefully," the tie wearer replied. "Why do you ask? You're usually not that concerned for the kids' wellbeings."

"I honestly can't say for certain why, but something bothers me more and more the closer we get to Credd, and I get the odd feeling something bad is going to happen to her once we arrive."


	3. Chapter 2: Crisis

Chaos. That's what they found on the island upon arriving.

It wasn't exactly something they could fight off, either. Blasts of magic of all kinds were hitting the area, and the islanders were running for anything considered magic-proof. Nobody could figure out where the source was, and they weren't exactly safe out in the open. Running was their only option pretty much as soon as they touched earth.

What few small bags they had safely with them, they followed a fleeing crowd of inhabitants running towards the middle of the island.

"WAIT!" Hikari shouted. The group immediatley halted to a stop and turned to him, panic evident on everyone's faces.

"What?!" Dixie asked.

"Hikari, what's wrong?" Sodoma insisted.

Hikari paused, listening in close to something.

"Well?!" DK said.

The ambassador turned his head and the others followed, shocked at what they saw.

Probably about fifty feet away, a young girl was on the ground, having been caught in a thorn bush. A few cloaked figures came into view not far behind her, and closing in rapidly. The little child was sobbing hard, either in pain or fear, it was hard to tell. Cranky immediately headed in that direction, to the unsurprise of the others.

"DK! Hikari!" he ordered. "With me! The rest of you, go on ahead."

"What the fuck are you doing old man?!" Diddy demanded.

"You'll be killed!" Dixie shouted.

"We won't be far behind, and I've got a few tricks up my sleeve," Cranky replied dryly as the requested two approached and the kids reluctantly kept going. He raised a hand as the three arrived to the girl, and this seemed to only slightly deter the offenders. "Oh my signal, the both of you should know what to do."

He slammed the raised hand on to the ground, sending a burst of energy that caused a shockwave that shook and cracked the ground beneath the bad guys. DK jumped above the ground and to the stunned cloaks. He swiftly delt with them, sending a different hit that made each one dazed enough to divert them from their course, while Cranky raised the same hand, keeping it there as the figures came out of their daze. They looked around, and seemingly confused... almost as if their target and her rescuers had disappeared.

The oldest of the three made a motion, and Hikari, who during all that had freed the child from her throny confine and managed to calm her some, swiftly picked the whimpering girl up and bolted it in the direction the others had gone. DK landed safely and followed suit, and Cranky left soon after, refusing to still let down what ever barrier he had put up to ensure their escape.

The shelter the islanders had found was simple, but well-known to be magic-proof. The others had just arrived when their last member caught up, nearly collapsing when he finally let the spell drop. The little girl they had rescued was a lot calmer now, Sodoma fretting over the pricks from the thorns, and she only looked up once the commotion made by the group's reunition calmed.

"Th-thank you all for saving me," she sniffled softly. "My name is Cherah."

"It's nice to meet you, Cherah, even in these circumstances," Dixie said, and pointed to each friend as she named them off. "That's DK, Hikari, Diddy, Cranky, Sodoma and I'm Dixie."

"Cherah, what happened here?" DK asked, hoping not to upset her too bad. Cherah's lip began to tremble.

"I don't know." Tears welled in her eyes once more. "My uncle sent me off to a safehouse with my governess, and I somehow got separated from her in all the panic. The next thing I know, I've got Lombado coming after me, and-"

"The Lombado?!" Sodoma exclaimed, scooping Cherah out of Diddy's lap and squeezing her into a hug. "You poor thing! Those no good, dirty, rotten sons of-"

"Sodoma!" Hikari snapped a little too harshly. "Small child!"

"So they've already launched an attack here," Diddy said, paling considerably. "Is this what would have happened had we not gotten to Aqua Reef when we did?"

"Those sons of bi... guns have gone too far," DK murmured. "Attacking innocent bystanders... They must be stopped at all costs."

"They _**will**_ __be stopped," Cranky said, pulling himself to his full height. It kind of scared everyone, even DK. "They won't get their hands on the Ruby Sun, nor its controller. We will eradicate this race once and for all, even if it destroys us."

There was a silence. Cherah's ears perked at the mention of the Sun.

"That's all they want?" she asked. "All this destruction for me and the Sun?! So it's true then... What's happened on the other islands..."

"I'm afraid it is, Cherah," Diddy said. "I'm certain at least two people here have the marks to prove it, and the chances of it getting worse from here are very high."

"Wait," Dixie realized. "Cherah... you said 'all this destruction for me and the Sun'..."

"Of course," Sodoma said. "Why did none of us notice before?"

"Notice what?" Hikari asked.

"Cherah is the future ruler of Credd Rock, and the handler of the Ruby Sun," Dixie explained.


	4. Chapter 3: Deal

"You've lost her?!"

The young woman was trembling on her knees before her furious boss. She hadn't meant to lose Cherah; all the chaos happening thanks to the attack on the island made it impossible for her to keep track of the child.

Halim, the regent island leader, paced back and forth, his face red from anger.

"Sir, I-I didn't mean to," the governess stuttered. "So much was happening at once, that before I knew it, she was gone!"

"You had better hope for your sake that one of the islanders got to her before these lunatics did!" he shouted.

"Sir!" A guard ran in then, looking relieved beyond belief. "The young lady Cherah has been found and has arrived safely."

Halim looked to the governess, nodding only slightly. He still held a stern look, almost as if he was telling her he would confirm her story with Cherah.

The guards had already ushered in Cherah and her new friends, some of whom Halim took note on looking familiar and all looking utterly exhausted. Cherah had promptly leapt out of the oldest-looking one's arms upon seeing him, bursting into tears as the weight of what had happened came crashing down on her. Halim held her for dear life, quietly shushing her.

"Excuse me," one of the newcomers, a blonde female, piped up then. The man looked to them, almost as if he had forgotten about them. "You wouldn't happen to be the Regent-King, would you?"

"I would be yes," Halim answered.

"I'm afraid we come bearing bad news, then," she continued on. "We have reason to believe the ones attacking the island are the Lombado."

"Really now?" An eyebrow was raised. "I knew it. It was only a matter of time before they revolted."

"It's true, Uncle," Cherah sniffled. "The Lombado would have gotten me had it not been for them. They were after the Sun's powers."

That sent alarms off in Halim's mind.

"I'm afraid it's been the case for Aqua Reef and Kongo Bongo as well," the one who had been carrying Cherah said. "We had actually been coming here to warn you of this very thing but it's already evident we're too late."

"The Lombado plan to revive an old war using the gems," a male in a red hat added. "With bad intentions come bad things, like what they're planning to do, but with good intentions, we could potentially stop them in their tracks."

They were all silent for a moment.

"And even if I am to believe you, what would you have me do?" Halim asked softly.

"We would like Cherah to come with us," the one with the tie replied. "You or another trusted accompaniment can come with us. We would require specficially her so she can use the Sun if intended. In return, we'll eradicate the Lombado on the island."


	5. Chapter 4: Hunt

After Halim agreed to the plan and introductions had finally been made, it was time to scout.

Now, just a bit about the Kongs who were born of the Mage of Konoro's bloodline: each had some form of special ability. While this phenomenon occurred in the other Mage bloodlines as well, those of Konoro's were especially noticeable for how much more powerful they were. Cranky had his manipulation of energies, and DK had an immesaurable strength and the rarely-used power of invincibility. As it turned out, both Diddy, who was found not too long before this whole adventure began to share the same bloodline as his adoptive family although at a distance, and Hikari had the more common ability of sensory and detection.

This wasn't a bad ability, and in fact, it was far from useless. It just meant they couldn't use it as frequently.

But that's how it came to pass that Diddy and Hikari both sat at different altitudes in different trees, cloaked in a fresh work of magics and trying to find any sign of the Lombado that they could. It had been about an hour, and they had not yet found the area they were looking for.

"How much longer do you think it will be?" Sodoma asked, glancing up at Diddy.

"Hard to say," Cranky frowned, slowly making sure the Coconut and Tear's combined magics didn't completely engulf either of the sensors. "I hope it'll be soon, though. I hate to think of how many casualties there may have been."

"Why do you think this kind of thing happens?" The older of the two had almost not heard the question at all.

"War is hell, Sodoma." The young girl looked to him. "Ask anyone who was around for any of the wars in the past sixty years. I've fought in a couple of them myself. They're part of the reason I stayed behind when the others went to Aqua Reef."

"I thought DK said you were doing research and reconnassaince?" Sodoma said. Cranky snorted.

"There's only so much research you can do on a race that for all intent and purposes doesn't exist," he replied. "I used it more as an excuse to go around and quell any fears and rumors that may have transpired after that night. You'll... you'll understand it more when you become an island ruler, Sodoma. You do what you have to in order to keep the peace."

Diddy slide fast down the tree then, his eyes and ears perked in western direction from the safehouse.

"Did you get something?" Sodoma asked.

"About a hundred yards that way," Diddy said quietly.

A few minutes later, their party was gathered and the Coconut and Tear were returned to their respective when-not-in-use places. Hikari had picked up on what Diddy had been sensing now, and he didn't like the feel of it one bit.

So much energy was overwhelming him... Is this what a sensor on battlefields felt like?

That feeling only increased when they got to the source of the energy, and Hikari realized it had not yet been even seventy-five yards. He began to fear the worst, and that fear was came true when they had been ambushed.


	6. Chapter 5: Rage of the Gods

"Why must this war go on?" Sodoma asked the Lombadan tightening her bonds.

"For the good of all races," the adversary responded dryly.

"Are you sure it's all of them and not just the Lombado?" Diddy snapped. The member turned to him, orangy eyes glinting with anger.

"The Lombado will rise back to the top and take control of the islands once more. For the good of everyone, including you lot."

"So you'd slaughter innocents just to make headway on this senseless violence that could very likely destroy yourselves?! Why! What point would there be!"

The Lombadan tightened Diddy's bonds considerably, causing him to sqeak from the marks he'd have if they managed to get out. Her eyes turned to Dixie, who was cowering between DK and Sodoma and trying to restrain tears. The Lombadan sneered.

"You have family on this island," she concluded, noting how the others seemed more concerned with the blonde than themselves, "don't you?"

Dixie didn't answer.

"They're probably dead. You know that, right? We killed a lot of people during the beginning of that invasion. I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone you were really close to, to be hon-"

Dixie screamed out in rage. A burning aura surrounded her body, almost as if a flame had engulfed her. The raw amount of energy seeping through allowed her to break the chains binding her limbs as easily as one would break a toothpick. The force of the burst threw the taunter back against a wall.

"Quell her!" another Lombadan shouted as their captors surrounded the enraged girl.

Red stripes flew down Dixie's face and arms as the heated feeling radiating from her person intensified. She raised her left hand, and the Lombadan members on that side seemed to dissapate almost instantly, with the results being repeated on the right side.

Everything seemed to be over in a matter of seconds. Dixie fell to her knees, and the others watched as sobs wracked her body and voice. All members of the group were silent. Diddy stood, wriggling a little in the hopes of loosening his chains, and made his way over to his girlfriend.

"Dix?" he murmured. Dixie turned to look at him, her eyes wild and brimming with tears. Diddy rested his head on her shoulder gently, and it seemed to quell the fire some. "It's gonna be OK. Even if she is gone, we'll try to find her the best we can."

This comment oddly seemed to shut off whatever was taking control of her. The heat died down considerably, and the burning aura of hatred surrounding her form left her. She seemed to pass out then, falling backwards before Diddy was able to catch her.


	7. Chapter 6: Safe

It was... quiet. Almsot too quiet. If felt nice.

Dixie slowly opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. She was in a bed somewhere, that muchwas certain just by the feel of things underneath her. The room itself seemed oddly familiar, almost as if she had been in the room before.

Memories of the times before she and Tiny came to Kongo Bongo came back to her. Of course. The room she was in had been her bedroom in their mother's house.

It was then that the events with the Lombado came back to her. She could not hold back the crescendoing sob that came out, tears filling out and falling faster than she could comprehend the fact they were happening. She heard voices, one that sounded like Diddy's and another that sounded comforting, like having your favorite food and dessert after a bad day.

"Dixie?" the latter voice asked. She wiped her eyes and was greeted with her mother's face, obviously alive and well.

"Mama!" she shouted, almost lurching out of the bed. Lily was very unprepared for the hug she was given, nearly sending both of them to the floor.

"Dix! You're OK!" Diddy said from somewhere near them.

"We were worried," DK said, appearing as well. "Even Cranky was."

Dixie was too preoccupied by the fact her mother was all right to even care to consider the two males in the room.

"Diddy and the others told me what happened," Lily murmured, frowning. "I'm all right though. See? You couldn't be hugging me if i was gone. Those bastards didn't get to me."


	8. Chapter 7: The Next Area

"So what's the next move?" Diddy asked.

"Well, we could go to the next area, but there is also one more place we could stop," DK said.

"The bloodline of the Mage of what is now Crocodile Isle is infused with power from the Crocodile Core," Cranky added. "As such, it's entirely possible that the Lombado could be going after a descendant on the Kremlings' home turf."

"But why would they possibly need it?" Dixie asked. "You said yourself that they'd only need the Tear and the Sun to revitilize their race since they couldn't get their hands on the Coconut."

"True. But something I failed to mention before hand is that they would also need the energy from the Core to complete the revival. One downside to the other two not having the strength of the Coconut is that when a person or group is brought back by the Tear and Sun, they are essentially soulless beings with no minds of their own."

"Most of the Lombado are already soulless," a voice replied. The group turned to find Wrinkly approaching them, having only just arrived.

"Were you able to do what you needed?" Sodoma asked.

"Yes, I was," she responded. "But I can't say for certain all will play out as hoped."

"We were just discussing where to go next," DK said. "What do you think of heading to Crocodile

Isle?"

"I think it would be a good idea to do so. I doubt the Lombado know they would need one of them yet, and so anyone with the potential to use the energy from the Core is needed of a warning."


End file.
